- I'm Coyote Peterson, and today
I'm gonna take you behind the scenes
at the Ohio Wildlife Center.
(percussion music)
- The Ohio Wildlife Center was founded in 1984
by Dr Donald Burton, and today I'll
be lucky enough to get a first-hand look
at how this incredible establishment
fosters awareness and appreciation of Ohio's
native wildlife through rehabilitation,
education and wildlife health studies.
Our first stop would be the wildlife hospital.
This is where the journey begins
for any animal that is in trouble.
Well we must be at the right place
because it says, No skunks inside the building.
We're gonna head downstairs and
see the rehabilitation process of some
of the wild animals that live here in Ohio.
Come on, let's go inside and check it out.
Pretty excited to help rehabilitate some animals today.
- Hi, I'm Dr Melinda Marksz, and I'm the
veterinarian for the Ohio Wildlife Center.
- Working alongside Dr Melinda Marksz,
I was about to get up close with some
animals that were recently admitted.
- I'm the clinical veterinarian here at the
Ohio Wildlife Center and I take care of all
the injured, orphaned wildlife that come in
and provide any veterinarian services that
they may need so surgeries, x-rays, medications,
anything that they may need prior to release is my job.
- Great, what sort of stuff are we gonna see today?
- We have quite a full hospital.
We have some raptors today, some turtles
and some baby squirrels for you to see.
- Ooh, everybody loves baby squirrels.
We all know that turtles are my favorite.
Alright, let's head downstairs and
start taking care of these animals.
It's official, today I'm gonna
help rehabilitate some animals.
- I'm Kristi Krumlauf, I'm the
hospital and pre-release facility director.
- So what's the first animal that we're gonna look at today?
- We're gonna be looking at a raccoon
that has a fractured jaw so we
actually have its mouth taped shut
so that we're not injuring it any further and
then we have a feeding tube into it.
So, we're gonna bring that raccoon
out and we're gonna feed it.
- Cool, let's bring out the raccoon.
With Kristi carefully holding this little guy
in place, I'm able to give him some delicious
milk formula through a feeding tube.
Am I going slow enough?
- You can go a little bit faster actually.
- Oh, okay.
I don't want it to shoot out his nose.
We all know how easy it is to make milk come out your nose.
- He's ready to go to sleep now.
- Yes, he's got a belly full of
milk and it's time for his nap.
Not too grouchy now that he's had his food.
So, the tube that was connected to the end of this syringe,
does that go all the way down into his stomach?
- It does, it's something called an E-tube
so if an animal has an injury where they're
unable to eat, like a jaw fracture,
we put a feeding tube in so that we can maintain
their calorie requirements while they're healing.
- Very cool.
Next we will look at a red-shouldered hawk
who's suffering from a broken wing.
- You definitely have to be careful of
the talons, so that's the bird's weapon.
- Dr Marksz checks to make sure
that everything is healing properly.
- Yeah, we definitely want to keep his head covered
for the most part while we're doing the exam.
- And then comes my part, more feeding.
Mmm, delicious hawk food.
Only this time it's rat livers.
Nothing is more appetizing to a hawk than fresh rat livers.
Ooh, that's good, isn't it?
- Yeah, he's probably ready for another.
- Putting cut-up rodent liver down the throat
of a red-shouldered hawk, now that's
something you haven't done every day.
It's cool to feel the meat just build up in its crop and
it's neat how you feel once it's the size of a golf ball,
you know it's had enough to eat
and it will slowly digest that food.
Last, but certainly not least, is probably
the most adorable little critter you have ever seen.
Holy cow, that is a tiny squirrel.
Get your camera over here and look at this.
He doesn't even have any fur yet.
It's a baby eastern gray squirrel.
Look at that little guy.
He's so little, his eyes aren't even open.
So, how do you feed a baby squirrel?
- We feed our squirrels with a syringe
and a synthetic nipple on the end.
So this guy..
- Is that a synthetic squirrel nipple?
- This is a synthetic squirrel nipple.
You can use them for kittens and puppies too.
The squirrel's usually pretty good eaters
so they latch on to it, and they take
to it pretty well the first couple of times.
- This is not what I imagined when you said cute.
This is like cute times ten.
A little more Pedialyte from an eye dropper,
and this future tree climber is ready for his nap.
Rest well, little squirrel if I could put
you in my pocket and keep you forever, I totally would.
But one day, you will return to the wild.
So that's how you feed a baby squirrel
with a synthetic squirrel nipple.
The hospital is where animals come to get fixed up,
and before they can return to the wild
they must first recuperate at the pre-release facility.
This location allows animals to re weather,
forage for food and recondition their muscles.
We aren't allowed to get up close with any of
these animals because the goal is to keep them wild.
And aclimating to humans, or cameras for that matter,
would be exactly the opposite.
Today, we actually have a great blue heron that is
going to be able to be released back into the wild
and we're going to get to be a part of that today, right?
- Yeah, we do have a heron that I was able to capture
yesterday that was entrapped into a restaurant that
had an outdoor pool and volleyball court so we are
going to be able to get that guy back outside today.
He's just a little tired after trying to escape
the nets of the volleyball courts.
- While the majority of the animals do make
full recoveries and return to the wild,
there are a few that will never be able to
survive on their own and must now become
ambassadors for their species.
These animals reside at the education facility.
The last stop on our tour and the place where
some incredible Ohio species now live full time
and have adapted to being around humans.
- I'm Barbara Ray, the Wildlife Education Director
here at the Ohio Wildlife Center.
Alright, so we have some animals that are not
releasable because they have some sort of
permanent disability that prevents them from surviving
on their own and during their rehabilitation process
it becomes apparent that these animals are pretty
adaptable to being in captivity.
And the purpose of these animals then is to
get them up close to people, help people become
a little bit more aware of what lives in
their neighborhood and learn how to
peacefully co-exist with animals.
And really, the best way to help people be able
to do that is to spell their fears about these
animals and show them that these animals
aren't out to get us at all, they're just going
about their business just like you and I.
- So the animals here basically cannot be
released back into the wild and they become
ambassadors and educational representatives
for the work that you guys do here.
- That's right.
- Very cool.
OWC is a non profit organization and every year
their incredible staff and countless volunteers
work around the clock to treat nearly 5,000
injured, orphaned, or sick wild animals.
The Ohio Wildlife Center is open to the
public on select days throughout the year.
If you're in central Ohio and want to get
up close with some of our amazing local species,
this is totally the place to do it.
I can't thank you guys enough for having us out here
today and taking us on the rehabilitation trail.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave, stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
(soft music)
- If you thought that was an amazing animal
encounter, make sure to check out these other videos
and don't forget, subscribe to follow me and the crew
on this season of Breaking Trail.
(bird calling)